JERSEY CITY - The Jersey City Democratic Organization (JCDO) kicked off its summer voter registration drive this week. Over the coming weeks the registration drive will target communities and that tend to have low rates of voter registration and low rates of voter participation. The registration drive will be coordinated with Jersey City-based nonprofits, churches, and community groups.

“We want the residents of Jersey City to know that it is important to be involved in government at both the local and national levels, and to take part in the process by exercising [their] right to vote,” Hudson County Freeholder and JCDO Chairman Jeff Dublin said in a statement. “It is important that everyone knows that they can make a difference.”

The right to vote, added Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, is “something too many people take for granted. We are using this Fourth of July holiday to remind everyone that democracy comes with a responsibility, and that responsibility is voting.”

HOBOKEN – U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and local officials met at the Hoboken Terminal Monday morning to discuss the impact of a recently-passed transportation bill.

“Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” or MAP-21, is a surface transportation bill that was recently passed by the Senate and aims to create or maintain 2.8 million jobs, lower mass transit commuting costs, and repair major roads and bridges.

“This transportation bill is a jobs bill that will give a much-needed boost to our economy, rebuild our roads and bridges, and help make our nation more competitive,” said Menendez.

According to a press release, aspects of the bill include: nearly $1 billion per year in state highway funding; the protection/creation of nearly 3 million jobs nationwide; a new $10 million transit-oriented development planning program that seeks to help communities by planning development around new transit hubs; an additional $1.2 million in funding for the National Transit Institute at Rutgers.

Also present at the event were Hudson County Freeholder Anthony Romano and Hoboken Councilman David Mello, chairman of the city’s Committee on Parking and Transportation.